St. Paul daily globe., 1887-03-13

rides well out of water. The wind will help
it along and make an advantage of fifteen
seconds in three miles. A head wind would
keep such boat back fifteen seconds, max
ing in all thirty seconds difference, so if T
find the wind against Inc. l use thin boat
that will ride very low and present little
surface to the wind. If the wind is abeam
or the race is turn, medium boat is the
best. Those points are worth knowing
The wind sail first brought out by Clasper
| on the Tyne was quite an invention. Itwas
thin board set UP on edge on the bow of
the boat. with the wind abeam or on the
quarter, when on the bow of the boat when
you pull and lean forward, when you pull
and
LEAN BACKWARD
you force the forward part of the boat
down and raise the after part so much out
Of water that the wind catches it. throws
the stern a little to leeward and brings the
bow into the wind. and you have to pull
harder on the windward oar to keep on
your course. The wind sail correctS that
fault. But when the wind is on either bow
it catches the sail and throws the boat off
the course. To replace the windsail the
fiji was invented. That is a small center
board fastened to the bottom of the boat.
AT first it was quite large and placed about
three feet from the stern. 1t kept the boat
from swinging Off, but it interfered with
quick turning, as it acted like fixed rud
der. The size was reduced to lessen that
disadvantage, and at last somebody thought
of moving the fin up to point just aft of
the center of the boat, right under the
after end of the cockpit. and making it
larger. Now the boat cali be turned al
most as though on pivot, making differ
ence of three strokes to the turn. and three
strokes means about three boat-lengths.
Oarsmen used to think that very quick
strokes were best for speed. That would
be true ii a man were a machine that
couldn't get tired or out of wind, but | find
that in Sculling 2S to 81 strokes to a min
ute is
FAST ENOUGH
for long race. and 3S strokes at
the start and finish at SO without IA
squirt or break. At any rate 1 could pull
strong and steady. making no false mo-
tions, and keeping my head clear. My
breathing was natural, and l wasn't sway
ing or See-Sawing as a man will when he
works too fast and too hard. The boat ran
along as sroothly and steadily as a
steamer. 1t pumps the wind out of a man
and makes his heart jump to row forty
strokes minute in single scull.
FOUR-OARED BOATS.
SIT is different in four-oared boat.
| There is not quite so much slide and man
can pull an oar from thirty-six to forty-four
strokes minute with advantage. The
English college oarsmen row better than
| the Americans because they have studied
| rowing scientifically and know what they
are about. They sit more erect and pull
their shoulders and legs and bring no strain
upon their stomach. They don't tire them
selves out with extra work, and they swing
| straight fore and aft. The wee-waW stroke
of some of our crews is ridiculous. English
oarsmen generally train more sensibly than
| Americans, although our college men gen.
orally do well in that line. American pro-
| fesSOnals as a rule don't know how to
train properly and are careless. The old
system of training was to put man on
about one-tifth his usual Diet give him raw
beef and work the life and heart out of
him. There's no sense in that sort of thing.
A man who trains that way rows one race,
and then he is no good any more. be-
lieve in
HUMORING NATURE,
and treating the human system as though it
had some rights trainer is bound to re-
spect. My system of training is very COM
plete. go out every day and row my dis
tance steadily. 1t is work by which make
my living, and don't make child's play Of
| it, No stopping to chat with every man in
q boat l happen to meet and getting chilled.
L pull up the course, turn around and pull
| straight back again without stop. At the
| float man takes care of my shell while l
go into the house and get rubbed down at
once. The body cools slowly while being
dubbed, and then take shower, most of
on my shoulders and back, and just
enough on my head to cool it. Then a
thorough drying with towels. followed by
vigorous hand rubbing, not slapping, but
| honest rubbing. l have man to do all
this rubbing for me. The practice of
| plunging into the water as soon as one steps
out of a boat is bad. The shock is too
sudden, and it affects the brain. 1t makes
Inc dizzy to do that. While Pm training L
doA'J stint myself in diet. 1 eat plain,
wholesome food. plenty OF vegetables and
| stale bread, and drink tea and coffee or ale.
IDON'T SMOKE MUCH
at any time, but l don't stop when training,
and if need a drop of gin to warm me
up, take it. In fifteen-mile row l have
lost six pounds weight. Well, you can be
sure l put it back again at the table. In
stead of eating less than ordinarily l eat
more when training, because / do more
work and need more fuel My breakfast
averages two or three pounds, dinner five
pounds, and supper two and One-half
pounds. If want to reduce weight, do
it by running. A sharp run of mile or
two in the morning improves the wind and
strengthens the legs. and if part of the run
| is UP hill, so much the better. Rowing de-
velopes all parts of the body but the hips
or thighs. and you will notice that oarsmen
| are slim there. Some of the muscles in
that region are not brought into action in
rowing, but running up will remedy that
defect In England l find that man
must drink ale while training. If he
doesn't his system seems to dry up. They
| laugh at the tea and toast trainers over
there. In this country man does not
need
ALE OR BEER,
and, indeed, is better without it. But L
make it rule to live as the people do in
tire country where happen. to be. Be-
cause they know best the effects of their
| climate.
"It is reasonable to Judge systems by
their results, and the result of my way of
training is that | am stronger to-day than
ever before. DR.. Armstrong, of New
castle, examined me when l first visited
England and again this year, and he says
he never saw man improve so much phys
ically l am twenty pounds better in
muscle and development than was on my
first visit and probably as strong as l ever
shall be. TO sum up, I have lived well,
seen good bit of the world, high and low,
had all the fun going, never starved myself
in training, and built UP my system SO that
| there isn't weak spot in it. have pulled
| in $50 races, lost eight in my whole life,
won 142 and made $500, 900 with the
sculIs. Ten years ago would row harder
! for siXpence and satisfaction of beating
somebody then would to-day for thou
sand pounds" FRANKLIN FILE.